Popular music is described by Raymond Williams as a term which was originally a legal one. The term has changed over many centuries; in the 16th century it meant vulgar/low, in terms of common people and continued to change. In the 19th century, american magazine came to take the word 'popular' as 'good'. Popular from the people of folk could include home-made, unpolished and unmediated music. Folk can be seen as authentic whereas pop can be classed as manufactured. As noted by some songs in the charts (bob the builder), popular is not always a synonym for 'good'. Popular music can also be commercially oriented meaning that profit is the primary aim. Popular music involves the use of technology, such as the piano, guitar e.t.c. Popular means contemporary, mass produced and consumed. It can also be described as “a hybrid of musical traditions, styles and influences”.
This is reasonably good, but as a point of order, Raymond Williams was defining the word popular rather than popular music. LB
ReplyDelete